Bruce Pascoe has published widely in both adult and young adult literature. He has won numerous awards, including the New South Wales Premier’s Book of the Year Award in 2016 for Dark Emu (Magabala Books 2014) and the Prime Minister’s Literature Award for Young Adult fiction for Fog a Dox (Magabala Books 2012) in 2013. His children’s titles Mrs Whitlam (Magabala Books 2016) and Young Dark Emu (Magabala Books 2019) have been shortlisted in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards. In 2018 Bruce was awarded the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. He has worked as a teacher, farmer, fisherman, barman, fencing contractor, lecturer, Aboriginal language researcher, archaeological site worker and editor. Bruce is a Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man, and currently lives on his farm in Gippsland, Victoria.
As part of our ongoing First Nations of Australia: Stories & Storytelling initiative, we’ve invited Bruce to tell us a little bit about his new book, Found, and to also share his favourite books for kids with us. Read on.
Found
by Bruce Pascoe & Charmaine Ledden-Lewis (Illustrator)
“Found was created out of a collaboration with Indigenous publishing house Magabala Books to support the Kestin Illustrator Award. It was an honour to help create an opportunity for an Indigenous illustrator, and Charmaine’s illustrations add their own dimension to the story. The more Indigenous voices in the industry the better.
The story of Found is based in part on a true story, of a lost calf I found on my farm. I ended up looking after it until I could find the calf a good home.” — Bruce Pascoe.
Buy it here
Bruce Pascoe’s Favourite Books for Kids
Brother Moon
by Maree McCarthy Yoelu & Samantha Fry (Illustrator)
Brother Moon is a powerful story lovingly told by a great-grandfather to his great-grandson. Beneath the dark sky of the Northern Territory, Hippy-Boy is captivated when Great-Grandpa Liman tells him the mysterious story of his brother and how it guides his connection to Country…
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Cooee Mittigar
by Jasmine Seymour & Leanne Mulgo Watson (Illustrator)
Cooee Mittigar, meaning Come Here Friend, is an invitation to yana (walk), on Darug Country. In this stunning picture book, Darug creators Jasmine Seymour and Leanne Mulgo Watson tell a story on Darug Songlines, introducing children and adults-alike to Darug Nura (Country) and language.
Buy it here
Alfred’s War
by Rachel Bin Salleh & Samantha Fry (Illustrator)
Alfred’s War is a powerful story that unmasks the lack of recognition given to Australian Indigenous servicemen who returned from the WWI battlelines. Rachel Bin Salleh’s poignant narrative opens our hearts to the sacrifice and contribution that Indigenous people have made to Australia’s war efforts, the true extent of which is only now being revealed.
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Do Not Go Around the Edges
by Daisy Utemorrah & Pat Torres (Illustrator)
This remarkable book weaves together the story of Daisy Utemorrah’s life with a collection of playful parables and poems. Exploring themes such as Creation, tradition, memories, family and most importantly, country, Do Not Go around the Edges imbues a simple autobiographical story with humour and depth.
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Family
by Aunty Fay Muir, Sue Lawson & Jasmine Seymour (Illustrator)
Family is a thoughtful contemplation for all to learn the different ways that family makes us whole. This beautifully illustrated children’s picture book shows everyone that ‘family’ can be about heart and home; an endless sky; stories and songs. It ‘learns’ us how to be with each other and with Country.
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Little Bird’s Day
by Sally Morgan & Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr (Illustrator)
A simple, universal story of a day in the life of Little Bird as she sings the world alive, flies with Cloud, travels with Wind, nestles with Moon and dreams of flying among the stars.
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My Place for Younger Readers
by Sally Morgan
Since its publication in 1987, Sally Morgan’s My Place has sold more than half a million copies in Australia, been translated and read all over the world, and been reprinted dozens of times. Sally’s rich, zesty and moving work is perhaps the best loved biography of Aboriginal Australia ever written. My Place for Younger Readers is an abridged edition that retains all the charm and power of the original.
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Mad Magpie
by Gregg Dreise
Mad Magpie is the third book in this successful series of morality tales from Gregg Dreise. Inspired by wise sayings and the knowledge of his Elders, Mad Magpie tells the story of Guluu, an angry magpie who is being teased by a gang of butcher birds.
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Steve Goes to Carnival
by Joshua Button & Robyn Wells
Steve is a gorilla who lives at a zoo in Rio. In the evenings, he listens to jazz on the radio with his friend, Antonio the zookeeper. One night, Steve is feeling a little lonely and so he lifts the latch of his cage door and goes off to search for Antonio. At the tram stop outside the zoo, he finds a hat — the perfect disguise. Steve climbs aboard a tram and rides down the hillside, past the favelas and into the city. It is carnival time in Rio!
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Found
Winner of the Kestin Indigenous Illustrator Award
This gentle story set in the rugged Australian bush is about a small calf who becomes separated from his family. The little calf is alone and simply wants his mother, sisters and brothers. He can see other animals, and after running to the river, manages to ask some horses if they are his family...
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